Euphemia Chalmers Millais néeNEE, Nee, Née may refer to:* Née or Nee, French for "born", indicates a person's birth surname* Nee , a band in Kannada* NEE, a political party in Flanders, Belgium* "Ne~e?", a 2003 single by Aya Matsuura- People with the family name :...
Gray, known as
Effie Gray,
Effie Gray Ruskin or
Effie Gray Millais (1828 - 1897) was the wife of the critic
John RuskinJohn Ruskin was an English art critic and social thinker, also remembered as an author, poet and artist. His essays on art and architecture were extremely influential in the Victorian and Edwardian eras....
, but left her husband without the marriage being consummated, and after the annulment of the marriage, married his protégé, the
Pre-RaphaeliteThe Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti...
painter
John Everett MillaisSir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, PRA was an English painter and illustrator and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.-Early life:...
. This famous Victorian "
love triangleA love triangle is a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two. The relationships can be friendships, romantic,...
" has been dramatised in several plays and an
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
.
Effie was born in
Perth, ScotlandPerth is a former royal burgh in central Scotland. Sitting on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative headquarters of Perth and Kinross council area. According to the 2001 census, its population is 43,450...
and lived in Bowerswell, the house where Ruskin's grandfather had committed suicide.
Euphemia Chalmers Millais néeNEE, Nee, Née may refer to:* Née or Nee, French for "born", indicates a person's birth surname* Nee , a band in Kannada* NEE, a political party in Flanders, Belgium* "Ne~e?", a 2003 single by Aya Matsuura- People with the family name :...
Gray, known as
Effie Gray,
Effie Gray Ruskin or
Effie Gray Millais (1828 - 1897) was the wife of the critic
John RuskinJohn Ruskin was an English art critic and social thinker, also remembered as an author, poet and artist. His essays on art and architecture were extremely influential in the Victorian and Edwardian eras....
, but left her husband without the marriage being consummated, and after the annulment of the marriage, married his protégé, the
Pre-RaphaeliteThe Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti...
painter
John Everett MillaisSir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, PRA was an English painter and illustrator and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.-Early life:...
. This famous Victorian "
love triangleA love triangle is a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two. The relationships can be friendships, romantic,...
" has been dramatised in several plays and an
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
.
Relationship with Ruskin and Millais
Effie was born in
Perth, ScotlandPerth is a former royal burgh in central Scotland. Sitting on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative headquarters of Perth and Kinross council area. According to the 2001 census, its population is 43,450...
and lived in Bowerswell, the house where Ruskin's grandfather had committed suicide. Her family knew Ruskin's father, who encouraged a match between them. In 1841, Ruskin wrote the fantasy novel
The King of the Golden RiverThe King of the Golden River or The Black Brothers: A Legend of Stiria by John Ruskin was originally written in 1841 for the twelve-year-old Effie Gray, whom Ruskin later married. It was published in book form in 1851, and became an early Victorian classic which sold out three editions...
for twelve-year-old Effie. After their marriage in 1846, they travelled to Venice where Ruskin was researching his book
The Stones of VeniceThe Stones of Venice is John Ruskin's original three-volume masterpiece on Venetian art and architecture, first published from 1851-53. Intending to prove how the architecture in Venice exemplified the principles he discussed in his earlier work, The Seven Lamps of Architecture, Ruskin examined the...
. However, their different temperaments soon caused problems, with Effie, who was naturally outgoing and flirtatious, coming to feel oppressed by Ruskin's dogmatic personality.
When she met Millais five years later, Effie was still a virgin, as Ruskin had persistently put off
consummatingConsummation or consummation of a marriage, in many traditions and statutes of civil or religious law, is the first act of sexual intercourse between two people, following their marriage to each other...
the marriage. His reasons are unclear, but they involved disgust with some aspect of her body. As Effie later wrote to her father,
"He alleged various reasons, hatred to children, religious motives, a desire to preserve my beauty, and, finally this last year he told me his true reason... that he had imagined women were quite different to what he saw I was, and that the reason he did not make me his Wife was because he was disgusted with my person the first evening 10th April."
Ruskin confirmed this in his statement to his lawyer during the annulment proceedings.
"It may be thought strange that I could abstain from a woman who to most people was so attractive. But though her face was beautiful, her person was not formed to excite passion. On the contrary, there were certain circumstances in her person which completely checked it."
The reason for this disgust with "circumstances in her person" is unknown. Various suggestions have been made, including revulsion from either her pubic hair, or menstrual blood.
While married to Ruskin, she modelled for Millais' painting
The Order of ReleaseThe Order of Release, 1746 is a painting by John Everett Millais exhibited in 1853. It is notable for the fact that it marks the beginnings of Millais's move away from the highly detailed Pre-Raphaelitism of his early years...
, in which she was depicted as the loyal wife of a Scottish rebel who has secured his release from prison. She then became close to Millais when he accompanied the couple on a trip to Scotland in order to paint Ruskin's portrait according to the critic's artistic principles. During this time, spent in
Brig o' TurkBrig o' Turk is a small community in the Trossachs, a range of hills in Stirling, Scotland. Its name is derived from the Gaelic Tuirc meaning wild boar...
in the
TrossachsThe Trossachs itself is a small woodland glen in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It lies between Ben A'an to the north and Ben Venue to the south, with Loch Katrine to the west and Loch Achray to the east...
, they fell in love. Effie left Ruskin and, with the support of her family and a number of influential friends, filed for an
annulmentAnnulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is retroactive: an annulled marriage is considered never to have existed....
, causing a major public scandal; their marriage was annulled in 1854. In 1855, Effie and John Millais married. During the marriage she bore Millais eight children, one of whom was the notable bird artist and gardener
John Guille MillaisJohn Guille Millais , known as "Johnny" Millais, was an English artist, naturalist, gardener and travel writer who specialised in wildlife and flower portraiture. He travelled extensively around the world in the late Victorian period detailing wildlife often for the first time...
. She also modelled for a number of his works, notably
Peace ConcludedPeace Concluded, 1856 is a painting by John Everett Millais which depicts a wounded British officer reading The Times newspaper's report of the end of the Crimean war...
(1856), which idealises her as an icon of beauty and fertility.
When Ruskin later sought to become engaged to a teenage girl,
Rose la ToucheRose La Touche was the major love in the life of John Ruskin.Ruskin met Rose when she was ten years old, and fell in love with her when she was eleven. She was a high-spirited child, yet also deeply religious almost to the point of mania. Ruskin's first impression of her was that she... "walked...
, Rose's parents were concerned. They wrote to Effie, who replied by describing Ruskin as an oppressive husband. The engagement was broken off.
Effie's influence on Millais
After his marriage, Millais began to paint in a broader style, which Ruskin condemned as a "catastrophe". Marriage had given him a large family to support, and it is claimed
who? that Effie encouraged him to churn out popular works for financial gain and to maintain her busy social life. However, there is no evidence that Effie consciously pressured him to do so, though she was an effective manager of his career and often collaborated with him in choosing subjects. Effie's journal indicates her high regard for her husband's art, and his works are still recognisably Pre-Raphaelite in style several years after his marriage.
However, Millais eventually abandoned the Pre-Raphaelite obsession with detail and began to paint in a looser style which produced more paintings for the time and effort. Many were inspired by his family life with Effie, often using his children and grandchildren as models.
Later life
The annulment barred Effie from some social functions. She was not allowed in the presence of Queen Victoria; so if the Queen were present at an event, Effie was not invited. Prior to the annulment, she had been socially very active and this bothered her considerably. Eventually, when Millais was dying, the Queen relented, allowing Effie to attend an official function.
Effie died a few months after her husband, on
Christmas EveChristmas Eve, December 24, is the night before Christmas Day, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.-Western Churches:Many Roman Catholics and Anglicans traditionally celebrate a midnight Mass which begins sometime before midnight on Christmas Day; this ceremony, which is held in churches...
, 1897. She is buried in Kinnoull churchyard, Perth, which is depicted in Millais's painting
The Vale of Rest.
Effie in drama and literature
Effie's marriage to Ruskin and her romance with Millais have been dramatised on many occasions:
- The Love of John Ruskin (1912) a silent movie about Ruskin, Effie and Millais.
- The Love School
The Love School was a 1975 BBC television drama series about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, written by John Hale, Ray Lawler, Robin Chapman and John Prebble. It was directed by Piers Haggard, John Glenister and Robert Knights. It was shown during January and February 1975. The series was shown in...
(1975) a BBC series about the Pre-Raphaelites, starring Anne Kidd (Effie), David CollingsDavid Collings is a British actor. He has played many different roles on various television programmes, including the leading dramatic role in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' in 1964....
(Ruskin), Peter EganPeter Egan is a British actor known for playing smooth neighbour Paul Ryman in 1980s sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles....
(Millais)
- John Ruskin's Wife (1979) a novel about the relationship by Eva McDonald.
- The Passion of John Ruskin (1994), a short film directed by Alex Chappel, starring Mark McKinney
Mark Douglas Brown McKinney is a Canadian comedian and actor, best known for his work in the long-running sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall. Following the run of their television series and feature film , he went on to star in Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 1997...
(Ruskin), Neve CampbellNeve Adrianne Campbell is a Canadian actress. Beginning her career on stage, she came to fame on the 1990s television series Party of Five, playing the role of the teenager Julia Salinger...
(Effie) and Colette Stevenson (Effie's voice).
- "Modern Painters" (opera) (1995) an opera about Ruskin, Effie and Millais.
- Parrots and Owls (1994) a radio play by John Purser
Dr John Purser, born in 1942 in Glasgow, Scotland, is an eminent composer, musicologist, and music historian. He is also a playwright.He initiated the reconstruction which commenced in 1991 of the Iron Age Deskford Carnyx, producing a replica which was first played in 1993 by trombonist John...
about the O'Shea brothers in which Effie appears as a friend of James O'Shea and her marital problems are discussed.
- The Countess, (1995) a play written by Gregory Murphy concentrating on the breakdown of the marriage between Ruskin and Effie.
- The Order of Release (1998) A radio play by Robin Brooks about Ruskin (Bob Peck
Bob Peck was an English stage, television, and film actor who came to acting relatively late in life.He was probably best known to British audiences for his role as Ronald Craven in the acclaimed 1985 BBC drama serial Edge of Darkness. The role won him "Best Actor" at that year's BAFTA Awards and...
), Effie (Sharon SmallSharon Small is a Scottish actress.Her best-known role has probably been that of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers in the BBC television adaptation of the Inspector Lynley Mysteries by Elizabeth George. Elizabeth George initially thought Small was too pretty to portray Sgt...
) and Millais (David TennantDavid Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in the theatre, Tennant is best known for his roles in Doctor Who as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor, in Casanova as the title character, and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
).
- The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits (2002), a collection of short stories by Emma Donoghue
Emma Donoghue is an Irish-born playwright, literary historian and novelist now living in Canada. Her 1995 novel Hood won the Stonewall Book Award and Slammerkin won the Ferro-Grumley Award for Lesbian Fiction. Her most recent collection of short stories, Touchy Subjects was published in...
, contains a story Come, Gentle Night about Ruskin and Effie's wedding night.
- Mrs Ruskin (2003), a play by Kim Morrissey
Kim Morrissey is a Canadian poet and playwright who lives in London, England. Many of her works examine the role of women in nineteenth century culture, re-imagining the lives of historical figures. She is also part of the Comedy Collective UK...
about the breakdown of the marriage and Effie's fraught relationship with Ruskin's domineering mother.
- Desperate Romantics
Desperate Romantics is a six-part television drama serial about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, first broadcast on BBC Two between July 21 and August 25, 2009.-Overview:...
(2009), a six-part BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
television drama serial about the Pre-Raphaelite BrotherhoodThe Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti...
. She is played by Zoe TapperZoe Tapper is an English actress who first came to prominence playing Nell Gwynne in Richard Eyre's award-winning film Stage Beauty in 2004. She is known for portraying Anya Raczynski in Survivors and Mina Harker in Demons.-Background:Tapper is from Bromley in South East London...
.
External links